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Preview: Pow Pow

I regularly lament the lack of affordable, fast casual fare in Washington, D.C. Sure, we’ve improved notably, with chains like Cava, Taylor Gourmet, Sweetgreen, CHAIA, &Pizza, and Souk offering healthy, quick and affordable meals. Truthfully, Sweetgreen is the only one in the list that strikes my fancy (If you have a fast casual spot you love, leave it in the comments and help a Bitch out!).

As I can’t cook—and there happens to be a bicycle blocking my fridge at present—I have to fend for myself between my brunches and dinners with girlfriends, so I turn to fast casual or take out.

Well, I’m pleased to report I found another addition to my rolodex: Pow Pow, a fast casual Asian spot on H Street that serves “greens, bowls, and rolls.” On a recent Friday, we drove over to H Street to try the new menu.

The bowls are the healthy part of the menu: a bowl of mixed greens and rice as the basis, in various iterations—it’s not far from the concept of a Chipotle rice bowl or its sister restaurant Shophouse.

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Pow Pow’s signature rice won me over immediately: a blend of white rice, black rice, and quinoa in coconut oil—I’m a sucker for coconut oil.

I ordered a classic bowl, the Wu Banger, with orange chicken, Feta cheese, diced tomato, and mandarin oranges, which is served over the coconut rice and a shredded greens mixture of Brussels sprouts, kale and leafy greens. The unique greens, unique rice, pineapple kimchi and soft poached egg made the whole experience an explosion of unique flavors and oh-so-satisfying bites.

Meanwhile, Tess selected the People’s Republic of Caesar, with Taiwanese fried chicken, fried capers, and tiger de leche lime over the rice, greens and spicy cashews. Both bowls were delicious—and large portions for an affordable price of $11. This is definitely going to become my go-to lunch spot.

Not being ones to turn down a challenge, we turned from our healthy bowls to the rest of the menu, approaching the Giant Egg Rolls and Trolley Fries with a bit of trepidation. (We were full, and the egg rolls are enormous.)

There are three versions of egg roll: steak, mock chicken for the veggies, and an Asian pork option, which was the natural choice. The enormous fried egg roll was filled with Asian pulled pork BBQ, pineapple kimchi, & napa cabbage. Served in two pieces, this could easily be shared by three people.

Now let’s talk about the Trolley Fries, which are named for Pow Pow’s location right by the H Street Trolley stop. These hand-cut fries are topped with Asian BBQ pork, kimchi, cheddar, cilantro, K-town ketchup and spicy Mayonnaise. There was a lot of Asian BBQ pork happening on our lunch—and that was a very good thing indeed.

While this lunch began healthy, we were devolving into a gluttonous bliss of Americanized, creative Asian fare. I began to describe Pow Pow as “greens, bowls, rolls—some healthy things, some very unhealthy things.” It’s a place where you can get a delicious, veggie-packed, gluten-free, protein-dense lunch—or come late at night for Trolley Fries and fried egg rolls. I was digging it.

Then they brought us the final egg roll and it sealed the deal—a banana Nutella egg roll. What will they think of next?

Drop by Pow Pow the next time you need an easy, affordable lunch, dinner or late night—your call whether you go the healthy or the unhealthy route, both are delicious.